The
remarkable story of the International Red Cross began at Solferino,
in northern Italy, exactly 125 years ago,
when battling Austrian and French soldiers brought death and destruction to the
countryside -- and when Swiss traveler Henri Dunant
realized that wounded soldiers should receive assistance no matter what their
allegiance.

From
that compassion at Solferino grew a great tradition
and a humanitarian organization that relieves the sufferings of all those
wounded not only by war but also by poor health, old age, personal adversity,
natural calamity, and so on.

As
Americans join people around the globe in observing this anniversary, we
reflect that the story could have turned out much differently if Henri Dunant -- one man, after all -- had ignored Solferino and its victims. Clara Barton, for instance,
might never have founded the American Red Cross, and her counterparts in other
countries might never have founded sister societies. Life would truly have been
different in our land for people who needed blood, or evacuees left homeless by
floods, or accident victims, or countless others.

A
century and a quarter after Solferino,
we have real reason to celebrate the victory for humanity and for international
cooperation that sprang from that battlefield. Today, 145 national societies of
the International Red Cross offer help without regard to race, creed, cause, or
nationality. Like many of these societies, the American Red Cross provides
assistance on several fronts, including health and safety, disaster relief,
blood, and social services.

Every
day, the American Red Cross battles the devastation left by natural disasters.
Last year, the Red Cross clothed, fed, or sheltered 450,000 disaster victims,
and through the generosity of the American people it provided individuals with
$122 million in disaster relief.

The
Red Cross also assists military personnel, last year alone helping members of
the Armed Forces and their families 2.5 million times. Daily it relays 4,000 messages
of birth, death, and illness to military posts worldwide.

The
American Red Cross battles potential threats to the blood supply by collecting,
and testing for disease, more than half of our Nation's blood supply. Last
year, four million volunteers donated blood to the Red Cross, restoring life
and health to millions of blood recipients.

The
Red Cross also fights hazards to health and safety by training in
cardiopulmonary resuscitation, first aid, swimming, water and boating safety,
and preparation for parenthood and babysitting. Last year, seven million
Americans successfully completed Red Cross courses. Last year, Red Cross
chapters also distributed 67 million AIDS brochures and urged the public ``to
get the facts.''

The
Red Cross also combats social and economic problems; it helps young mothers,
assists the aged, the homeless, and the destitute, and helps immigrants learn
English.

These
are some of the reasons we all rejoice in the vision and the mission of the
American Red Cross, especially in this 125th anniversary year of the
International Red Cross.

Now,
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of
America and Honorary Chairman of the American National
Red Cross, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim the
month of March 1988 as American Red Cross Month. I urge all Americans to
continue their generous support and ready assistance to the work of the
American Red Cross and its more than 2,800 chapters, 1.4 million adult members,
and three million youth volunteers.

In
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of January,
in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of
America the two hundred and twelfth.

Ronald
Reagan

[Filed with the Office
of the Federal Register, 10:45 a.m., January 29, 1988]

Note: The proclamation
was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on January 29.